HASTY OBSERVATION 263 



The careful observer is not long in learning 

 that there is truth in the poet's remark, that 

 "things are not what they seem." Everywhere 

 on the surface of nature things seem one thing, 

 and mean quite another. The hasty observer 

 is misled by the seeming, and thus misses the 

 real truth. ^ 



The little green snake that I saw aniong the 

 " live-for-evers " the other day, how nearly it 

 escaped detection by the close resemblance of its 

 color to that of the plant! And when, a few 

 days later, I saw one carelessly disposed across 

 the top of the bending grass and daisies, but a 

 few feet from where I sat, my eye again came 

 near being baffled. 



The little snake was probably lying in wait 

 for some insect. Presently it slid gently down 

 into the grass, moving so slowly as to escape 

 any but the most watchful eye. After its head 

 and a part of its body were upon the ground, 

 its tail still pointed straight up and exactly re- 

 sembled some fresh vegetable growth. The 

 safeguard of this little snake is in his protective 

 coloring; hence his movements are slower and 

 more deliberate than those of the other snakes. 



This simulation is very common in nature. 

 Every creature has its enemy, and pretends to 

 be that which it is not, in order to escape de- 

 tection. The true frog pretends to be a piece 

 of bark, or a lichen upon a tree; the wood-frog 

 is the color of the dry leaves upon which it 

 hops, though when spawning in the little black 

 pools and tarns in spring, its color is very dark, 

 like the element it inhabits. 



